OCUFA announces appointment of 30th president

TORONTO – The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is pleased to announce the appointment of its 30th president – Kate Lawson, an Associate Professor of English in the Department of English at the University of Waterloo. Lawson officially began her two-year term on July 1, 2013.

“OCUFA is a powerful advocate for high quality and accessible higher education in Ontario,” said Lawson. “I am honoured to lead OCUFA as professors and academic librarians across the province come together to protect and promote the things that make our universities great.”

Lawson received her PhD from the University of Toronto and taught for eight years at the University of Northern British Columbia, where she was also President of the Faculty Association from 1997- 1999. Since her arrival at Waterloo in 2002, she has been active in the Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo (FAUW), as a board member (2006-07) and a member of the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee (2007-present) and the Status of Women and Equity Committee (2004-06). Lawson has served on the OCUFA executive committee as Vice-President from 2011-2013 and as a Member-At-Large for a number of years. Lawson’s area of research is British literature of the mid-nineteenth century.

OCUFA would also like to thank outgoing President Constance Adamson, who has served the organization with integrity and distinction since 2011.

“From austerity policies to attacks on labour rights to misguided reform proposals, Ontario’s professors and academic librarians are facing serious challenges,” said Adamson. “I know that Kate will provide exceptional leadership as OCUFA works to advance the rights of faculty and the best interests of our institutions.”

Founded in 1964, OCUFA represents 17,000 faculty and academic librarians in 27 faculty associations across Ontario. It has been celebrating outstanding achievement in teaching and academic librarianship at Ontario universities since 1973. For more information, please visit the OCUFA website at http://www.ocufa.on.ca.